Now more than ever, in this noisy and cynical world, we believe it’s time to rise up (excuse the LeBron reference) and celebrate what is truly good in our world. And we believe Sports are good.

This is more than just a belief – the incredible impact of sports on our lives and communities has been proven through years of research, and we feel obligated to share that with you. Our mission is to bring you stories that will inspire you and move you to be more engaged with your world, more committed to social progress – and show you how sport is a powerful way to do that.

We will show you how sports bring communities together, creates paths to opportunity and provides a lens on our social values. Because sports has been proven to be one of the best youth-development tools that exists, we will show how important access to sports is in empowering the next generation – for instance, did you know that 94% of female C-Suite executives played sports, and over half played at the collegiate level? We will tell stories about how sports can make a meaningful difference in some of the most complex social issues that we face as a society. We will also call out where we are falling short, where the power of sports to drive social progress is being curtailed or corrupted.

We are particularly passionate about this mission because access to sports – particularly youth sports – is in decline in this country. Based on current trends, it is estimated that 27% of U.S. high schools may not offer team sports by the year 2020. Given the powerful positive impact sports can have on our lives and our communities, this is more than a stat – it is a crisis.

GOOD Sports has been launched by people that know something about this issue. The Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation have been on a mission to revive youth sports through their Sports Matter initiative, giving thousands of kids the chance to play. For the past decade, GOOD has chronicled and elevated a movement of people seeking to push the world forward through award-winning journalism in print and online. When it comes to understanding sport as a catalyst for social change, we see the entire playing field.

This issue is too important to be ignored, undervalued or corrupted, so check back regularly and join us on this venture. We can make a difference.